The present invention is a redeemable coupon disbursement control and reporting network especially for use with modified and improved automated teller machines such as those currently used in the banking industry. At the present time, it has been estimated that over four billion transactions each year take place between banking customers and their banks through the use of automated teller machines. It has also been estimated that an even larger number of redeemable coupons are printed each year of which only a fraction are actually redeemed, and it is not possible in existing systems to control the disbursement and redemption of such printed coupons in an inexpensive and flexible manner.
Automated teller machines vary widely in specific design but common elements of all varieties in current use include the use of continuous roll receipt paper which is conveyed through the automated teller machine. The use of single sheet receipt paper is possible but is not believed to be a current practice. The automated teller machine receipt is printed individually for each transaction and is then cut and issued to the customer for his record. The paper is loaded into the automated teller machine at one end of the paper path into or onto a paper holder and then is fed through the machine to an external opening where the customer receives it. The transaction is summarized and printed onto the receipt, and information concerning the transaction is relayed to a recording device, generally a computer. The length of the receipt is often determined by signals sent to the conveyer by a diode which reads solid marks preprinted on the continuous roll of receipt paper at given intervals.
Automated teller machines also have means for communicating with the customer. Generally, the automated teller machine has a visual display device for providing instructions and information to the customer, and the automated teller machine has a manually-operated keyboard, panel or set of switches by which the customer supplies information to the bank regarding each transaction.
Advertisers frequently seek to target customer groups such as those conducting banking business in a given geographical area. Because banks are generally unwilling to provide customer lists to prospective advertisers and because banks are often unable to determine which branches their customers most frequently use, such advertisers must seek other means of reaching such groups effectively and efficiently. Historically, coupon promotion success has been capable of being measured in general terms only, by comparing gross sales before, during and after the promotion. A comparison of the number of coupons actually distributed to the number of coupons actually used is generally inaccurate because of the inability to track printed coupons which for one reason or another are discarded prior to distribution to a customer. In addition, it is difficult to control disbursement, and it is not unusual to find coupons being accumulated for multiple use by the same customer.
In addition, banks are finding costs continuing to increase but have generally not developed any means for effectively using the reverse side cf automated teller machine receipts for generating income. Instead, banks charge users of their automated teller machines a fee for each transaction. Many automated teller machines are capable of handling the transactions of customers of more than one banking institution through a networking arrangement, and the fees charged per transaction are generally higher for users who are not customers of the bank owning the particular automated teller machine. The fees for both bank customers and nonbank customers, though generally small, are usually substantially higher than the fee charged for writing a check, and some customers avoid using automated teller machines to avoid the fee, instead, writing checks or otherwise handling their banking needs. Because the overhead associated with a bank's automated teller machine fluctuates only slightly with greatly increased volume, increased volume can significantly increase profitability (or decrease losses) from the automated teller machine and therefore banks seek to increase the use of their automated teller machines. The fees charged for use of automated teller machines are generally in amounts similar to the amounts frequently found in redeemable coupon promotions conducted by fast food restaurants and other vendors.
It is believed that the most frequently occurring transaction at automated teller machines is that of cash withdrawal from the customer's account. Thus, customers of automated teller machines are likely to have cash in hand at the time of receipt of the automated teller machine receipts. Further, automated teller machines are frequently used after regular banking hours but during hours in which fast food and other vendors remain open, and automated teller machines are generally designed to limit the number of transactions which may be conducted by a given customer within a given time period.
Finally, it is difficult to devise inexpensive and effective systems for distributing single coupons to individual customers. Printed materials that are widely distributed as through mailings or publication of advertising in newspapers and magazines are subject to accumulation in the hands of a few customers for multiple use, requiring the vendor to honor coupons, usually done at a loss for promotional purposes, without the intended widespread goodwill and diversity of customers.